Trained as an actor at Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theatre School, Max von Sydow became recognized as Sweden's foremost film star for his long-running collaboration with director Ingmar Bergman. Beginning with his ascetic knight in "The Seventh Seal" (1957), he seemed to represent the suffering artistic personality, his gaunt presence embodying modern man's struggle between appetite and guilt. Bergman, seeing strength in his women, depicted them with compassion but allowed von Sydow's steely-blue, haunted stare and sickly, hollow cheeks to tell the torment of men's angst-ridden souls. The cornerstone of Bergman's repertory group of performers, he appeared exclusively in feature films for the director (e.g., "Wild Strawberries" 1957, "Brink of Life" 1958, "The Magician" 1958, "The Virgin Spring" 1960, "Through a Glass Darkly" 1961 and "Winter Light" 1963) before taking the part of Jesus in George Stevens' "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965). Though that movie tanked, it opened the door for performing in American films.

Seizing upon his long, somber face and imposing physicality, Hollywood could only fathom him as stern and unsympathetic, casting him as a knuckle-cracking Nazi in "The Quiller Memorandum", a stiff-necked minister in "Hawaii" (both 1966) and a Russian strongman in "The Kremlin Letter" (1970), none of which set box office records. Refusing to turn his back on work in Sweden, he returned to embark on another prolific association with director Jan Troell in "Har Har Du Ditt Liv/Here Is Your Life" (1966), in addition to reteaming with Bergman for another memorable series of films ("Hour of the Wolf" and "Shame" both 1968, "The Passion of Anna" 1970, and "The Touch" 1971). Von Sydow starred opposite Liv Ullmann in Troell's diptych, "The Emigrants" (1971) and "The New Land" (1972), recounting the tale of Swedes who emigrated to the United States during the 19th Century. For his second Hollywood go-round, the planets were all in alignment, and he stepped into his first blockbuster, William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" (1973), a turning point in his career as far as earning the big bucks.

Von Sydow has roamed all over the world, demonstrating almost limitless range and unquestioned authority. He cashed in with his Alsatian hit-man Joubert in Sydney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor" (1975), appeared in the preposterous sequel "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977, despite having expired in the original) and had a hoot playing Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon" (1980). He enjoyed some dandy pay days for fare like "Victory" (1981), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982) and "Never Say Never Again" (1983), but he also piloted a doomed balloon for Troell's "The Flight of the Eagle" (1982), as well as delivering a stellar supporting turn as Barbara Hershey's artist-lover for Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), both labors of artistic love, not commerce. Von Sydow then weighed in with one of his finest portrayals as a humble old Swedish widower struggling (along with his son) for survival as immigrants to Denmark in Bille August's "Pelle the Conqueror" (1988), the Oscar-winning Best Foreign Film which earned the actor his sole Oscar nomination (Best Actor) to date.

Stepping behind the camera for the first time, von Sydow made an unspectacular directing debut (one he has not followed-up) with "Katinka" (1988), adapted from Herman Bang's novel "Along the Road", before renewing his association with Bergman (as screenwriter), playing the heroine's father in August's "The Best Intentions" (1992). A sequel to Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander" (1983), it preceded Danny Bergman's "Sunday's Children" (also 1992) and Liv Ullmann's "Private Conversations" (1997, in which von Sydow appeared) in the continuing autobiographical saga of the renowned director. He also acted in "The Ox" (1992), long-time Bergman director of photography Sven Nykvist's directing debut. Having worked with Bergman at the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Stockholm from 1960-74, von Sydow remains committed to theater in his native land, despite a protracted absence during the 70s and 80s. He also acted in the United States, making his Broadway debut as August Strindberg in "The Night of the Tribades" (1977) and appearing in "Duet for One" (reprising his role in the 1986 movie), as well as in England, where he played Prospero in a 1988 London production of "The Tempest".

Von Sydow made his American TV debut as Otto Frank in the ABC special presentation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" (1967) and sandwiched biblical tales, "Samson and Delilah" (ABC, 1984) and "Quo Vadis" (USA, 1987, playing the Apostle Peter), around his performance as King John of Portugal in the CBS miniseries "Christopher Columbus" (1985). Also for the small screen, he portrayed Father Siemes in "Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes" (NBC, 1990) and essayed Russian characters in three HBO movies ("Red King, White Knight" 1989, "Citizen X" 1995, "Hostile Waters" 1997), not to mention for the earlier "Kojak: The Belarus File" (CBS, 1985). As for features, he worked in US commercial fare ("Needful Things" 1993, "Judge Dredd" 1995) and continued his collaborations with Troell, acting the part of Norwegian hero and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Knut Hamsun who sided with the Nazis in "Hamsun", and August in "Jerusalem" (both 1996). 1998 saw him guide Robin Williams across the River Styx in "What Dreams May Come" and provide narration for Troell's documentary "Their Frozen Dreams".